Judo or MMA

After asking for advice here about which martial art I should take I settled on BJJ and I have been absolutely loving it. I am definitely the least fit, naturally talented and skilled person there but as far as I'm concerned that makes me the lucky one because I have the whole class to learn from. So firstly thanks for the good advice on this forum.

Anyway as the title suggests I am trying to decide between MMA classes and Judo to add to my training. My BJJ coach offers MMA classes and the Judo classes are nearby and at convenient times. I'm not particularly interested in competing in MMA but the well rounded skill set appeals to me. I am interested in BJJ competition and I know it starts on the feet so Judo to develop my takedowns is appealing to me.

The problem with the MMA classes is that they don't spar, I think due to the size of the gym but I haven't asked directly yet. I know that is usually a red flag but my coach has had semi pro (c class rules I think?) fights which I've seen videos of and fighters from our gym go to amateur MMA events to compete so I really think he has a good reason for not having sparring. The reason it's a problem for me is that I won't have a chance to test myself unless I compete.

The only problem I see with Judo is that I could be limiting my skill set but then again having well developed standup and ground grappling skills is hardly a bad thing.

TL;DR version: I can see pros and cons to taking either of the classes so how would you choose between MMA and Judo?

TL;DR version: I can see pros and cons to taking either of the classes so how would you choose between MMA and Judo?

I would wait until your not the weakest link in your bjj club before you train elsewhere.

I think the potential benefits of waiting before you train elsewhere are
-cost effective
-develop a strong base in a martial art
-bring more to the table when you visit other gyms
-be able to protect yourself when you visit other gyms
-be knowledgeable enough to distinguish the clear differences between an art that you are familiar with and an art that you are being introduced to.
-take that knowledge and do something with it

potential cons of going to new gym
-less cost effective
-learn conflicting information (and not know what to do with it)
-potential to burn out
-potential for injury

potential benefits of going to a new gym
-meet new people
-comparison of new gym to current gym
-pick up a few techniques
-improve conditioning
-an awesome judo gi or mma pants with your name on it
-improve cultural literacy so you can rub shoulders with the people on bullshido.

IDK just my thoughts, since I don't know you personally and i'm not an expert in the field it's hard to make an informed decision.

I agree with pepto on all counts. Especially if you want to compete in bjj tournaments, judo will be directly applicable.

Er... Learn to defend singles, doubles, and ankle picks though. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think they are a part of competative judo anymore but they will come up in grappling tournaments.

The one follow-up I would add to pepto's thoughts (which I think are spot on) is how much takedown training you do in BJJ currently. To my mind if you do very little (or the scope if very limited, say just singles and doubles) then you might want to start the cross-training earlier. If however you start from your feet often and are taught a range of moves it might pay to focus on them first before you jump into the big, wide world of judo.

As an aside, have you tried a few classes of each? Mixing things up with MMA, along with the added (and a bit different) fitness, might ultimately go a long way toward accelerating your BJJ in the short-term.

That being said, either way you go, judo and MMA aren't going anywhere.

@gregaquaman I was guessing at the rules to be honest. I said c class because I thought it was amateur with full unified MMA rules. All but one guy has had success in competition as far as I remember. I have to be honest, I don't get the no sparring either but like I said I haven't asked directly about it yet. It's a fairly small club and changes are being made to how we go about classes and the schedule gradually and in response to student demand.

Which leads me to answering Lv1Sierpinski. We tend to do drills for our warm ups which often include drilling a takedown or takedown defense. The technique section of the class is centered on a take down maybe 1 in 5 times? It'll usually be variations on singles and doubles but the gi classes quite often have some judo throws in there. As I said my coach listens to his students and we have started a sort of add on session to focus on takedown and takedown defense, that could be 30 minutes of stand up sparring to a full hour+ class with technique and drills depending on what the students want.